After learning all this, Henry Carter felt a bit worried. In his previous life, he was already a sophomore in college and had long since been free from academic pressure. To be honest, he had already returned some of his knowledge to the teachers. Now, suddenly coming back to attend high school again—Japanese high school, no less—he found it a bit hard to adjust. He was quite concerned that he might not pass the academic ability test and wouldn’t be assigned to that so-called Special Advancement Class to enjoy the school’s exclusive tutoring. As for that “cheat” he got, it wasn’t reliable either. It was a magical idle mobile game, and when he used a Japanese dictionary as a “cheat,” it treated it as a language skill book, something like 【Demon Language】 or 【Minotaur Language】 in games, and directly let him learn the 【Japanese】 skill. But when it came to math, chemistry, or physics books, the “cheat” was completely stumped and didn’t respond at all.

But it didn’t really matter—just being able to live again already felt like a huge win, so he didn’t care about any extra perks. He wasn’t afraid of hard work and planned to relearn all the high school courses. Don’t think that just because you’re a college student, you’ll definitely get into the University of Tokyo if you take the college entrance exam. College life isn’t that stressful, and the sense of urgency is long gone. If you’re sent straight to the exam, you might just flop—maybe you’d even do worse than the current high school seniors!

Henry Carter packed up his bag and left the classroom, pretending not to notice the slightly resentful and embarrassed look from Megan Clark. He didn’t know if it was the influence of in-game attribute points or if the original host was just too handsome, but ever since his rebirth, his luck with girls had been inexplicably strong—almost to the point of being a curse, which was quite a headache.

As he walked out, Ryan Smith bowed deeply in thanks. At lunch in the cafeteria, Ryan Smith had asked him to join the Kendo Club in name only, just to make up the numbers. Henry Carter thought it wouldn’t do him any harm and might even earn him a favor, so he agreed. Now, Ryan Smith was enthusiastically taking him to officially join the Kendo Club.

He followed Ryan Smith for a few steps and noticed James Walker tagging along as well. Somewhat puzzled, he asked, “Did Mr. Smith ask you too? Weren’t you going to join the baseball club?”

James Walker swung his bag over his shoulder, putting on the air of a carefree playboy, his gaze lingering on the girls in the hallway. He replied casually, “There’s no rule that says you can only join one club. Anyway, it’s just to make up the numbers… Once we’re done, how about we go to karaoke? Ryan is treating!”

“Thanks, but I still need to go back and study.”

Henry Carter refused flatly. He couldn’t be too polite with James Walker; this guy was thick-skinned—give him an inch and he’d take a mile. He glanced at Ryan Smith, who was walking with a bit of a “swaying” elegance, and asked curiously, “Why is Mr. Smith helping the Kendo Club recruit members?”

Ryan Smith lowered his head and sighed, mumbling, “It’s for some personal reasons… Sorry for troubling you, Mr. Carter.”

Henry Carter didn’t quite catch that, nor did he understand, so he instinctively looked at the “information broker” James Walker. Sure enough, James Walker didn’t let him down and immediately spilled the beans: “Ryan’s older sister is the captain of the Kendo Club. She’s probably forcing him to recruit a certain number of people, or else she’ll deal with him.”

“Five.” Ryan Smith sighed again, probably worrying about where to find the remaining three.

“I see!” Since they hadn’t known each other long, Henry Carter really didn’t know that Ryan Smith had an older sister. He glanced at the somewhat effeminate but still handsome Ryan Smith, guessing that his sister was probably a real beauty. But that wasn’t his business, so he just continued, “Does this school have a requirement for the number of club members?”

Ryan Smith didn’t answer, but James Walker said bluntly, “The more people you have, the more funding you can get from the student council. For example, if you go to a competition, the money approved for 10 members is definitely different from that for 5!”

“So that’s how it is.” Henry Carter finally understood why there were always so many clubs working so hard to recruit members under the blazing sun at the bulletin board and in the courtyard every day—it was all about funding allocation.

Ryan Smith defended his sister, “She only wants more funding so the club members can be in better shape for competitions and have more training sessions.”

Henry Carter nodded in understanding. Competing for funding was a sign of a responsible club president, and using a few tricks wasn’t really a problem. He continued, “If you have to work this hard to recruit, does that mean there aren’t many people in the Kendo Club?”

James Walker didn’t care that a core member of the Kendo Club was right there and just laughed, “Of course there aren’t many!” But then he looked puzzled, “Did your school’s Kendo Club use to have a lot of people?”

Henry Carter quickly replied vaguely, “I didn’t really pay attention, but probably not that many… I thought since Nagoya is a big city, maybe there’d be more?”

James Walker declared, “There’ll only be fewer! Who wants to join a sport that’s smelly and dirty? It’s just that Ryan’s sister is too overbearing, so Ryan has no choice but to help make up the numbers.”

He sounded quite resentful toward Ryan Smith’s sister, but Ryan Smith just turned his head away, pretending not to hear, and didn’t even try to defend her—no sense of brotherly duty at all.

“Smelly and dirty?” Since it was someone else’s family, Henry Carter didn’t want to comment, so he quickly shifted the topic.